Verse 7.87 [Duties in Battle (saṅgrāma)]

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:

समोत्तमाधमै राजा त्वाहूतः पालयन् प्रजाः ।
न निवर्तेत सङ्ग्रामात् क्षात्रं धर्ममनुस्मरन् ॥ ८७ ॥

samottamādhamai rājā tvāhūtaḥ pālayan prajāḥ |
na nivarteta saṅgrāmāt kṣātraṃ dharmamanusmaran || 87 ||

While protecting his people, if the king is challenged by enemies, either equal in strength, or stronger, or weaker, he shall not shrink from battle, bearing in mind the duty of the kṣatriya.—(87)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

War has been enjoined as the last resource for the king, when -all other means nave failed; and when once war has been entered into and the king has reached the battle-field, and has been challenged by his enemy,—he shall not show any sort of indifference; this is what is meant by the present verse; which means that he shall not entertain any such notion as—‘I shall not strike at a weak enemy.’

Or, when robbers and others, in sheer disregard for the established law, attack the people,—or join the king’s enemies,—if such persons cannot be subdued without war,—then the king must go to war with them, even though they be weak. Though in a case like this, the king is not actually ‘challenged’ by the robbers in so many wards, yet, for all practical purposes, he is as good as ‘challenged’.

It is ‘the duty of the Kṣatriya’ that whenever he is challenged, he must fight, whoever the challenger may be, and he shall take no account of the caste or age or training or ambition etc. of the other party. This duty the King has to bear in mind.—(87)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Vīramitrodaya (Rājanīti, (p. 405).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Gautama (10.16).—‘To stand firm in battle and not to turn hack.’

Baudhāyana (1.18.9).—‘He shall not turn back in battle.’

Viṣṇu (3.43).—‘When ho has been attacked by his foe, he shall protect, his own realm to the best of his power.’

Yājñavalkya. (1.323).—‘Those who, for the sake of lands, fight in battles with fair weapons, go to heaven, like Yogins.’

Devala (Vīramitrodaya-Rājanīti, p. 405).—‘For the sake of his people, the Kṣatriya shall fight and even give up his life.’